In the year 1654 there was a man of letters living in Imsil who
claimed that he could control spirits, and that two demon guards were
constantly at his bidding. One day he was sitting with a friend playing
chess, when they agreed that the loser in each case was to pay a fine
in drink. The friend lost and yet refused to pay his wager, so that the
master said, "If you do not pay up I'll make it hot for you." The man,
however, refused, till at last the master, exasperated, turned his
back upon him and called out suddenly into the upper air some formula
or other, as if he were giving a command. The man dashed off through
the courtyard to make his escape, but an unseen hand bared his body,
and administered to him such a set of sounding blows that they left
blue, seamy marks. Unable to bear the pain of it longer, he yielded,
and then the master laughed and let him go.
At another time he was seated with a friend, while in the adjoining
village a witch koot (exorcising ceremony) was in progress, with drums
and gongs banging furiously. The master suddenly rushed out to the
bamboo grove that stood behind the official yamen, and, looking very
angry and with glaring eyes, he shouted, and made bare his arm as if
to drive off the furies. After a time he ceased. The friend, thinking
this a peculiar performance, asked what it meant. His reply was,
"A crowd of devils have come from the koot, and are congregating in
the grove of bamboos; if I do not drive them off trouble will follow
in the town, and for that cause I shouted."
Again he was making a journey with a certain friend, when suddenly,
on the way, he called out to the mid-air, saying, "Let her go, let
her go, I say, or I'll have you punished severely."
His appearance was so peculiar and threatening that the friend asked
the cause. For the time being he gave no answer, and they simply went
on their way.
That night they entered a village where they wished to sleep, but the
owner of the house where they applied said that they had sickness,
and asked them to go. They insisted, however, till he at last sent a
servant to drive them off. Meanwhile the womenfolk watched the affair
through the chinks of the window, and they talked in startled whispers,
so that the scholar overheard them.
A few minutes later the man of the house followed in the most humble
and abject manner, asking them to return and accept entertainment
and lodging at his house. Said he, "I have a daughter, sir, and she
fell ill this very day and died, and after some time came to life
again. Said she, 'A devil caught me and carried my soul off down the
main roadway, where we met a man, who stopped us, and in fierce tones
drove off the spirit, who let me go, and so I returned to life.' She
looked out on your Excellency through the chink of the window, and,
behold, you are the man. I am at my wits' end to know what to say to
you. Are you a genii or are you a Buddhist, so marvellously to bring
back the dead to life? I offer this small refreshment; please accept."
The scholar laughed, and said, "Nonsense! Just a woman's haverings. How
could I do such things?" He lived for seven or eight years more,
and died.
Im Bang.